Took Lil Fort to the gym and worked out while she was there. I skipped the weights until after the meet and did core work. Yesterday's recovery workout did not really revivify me, so maybe it was a good thing anyway.

My only concession to this weekend's meet is to take it easy tomorrow. I can't remember a meet where I've had so little rest. But I'm treating it like a speed workout. I did email the meet director and ask about split requests for manual timing. He told me it was no problem and that the rule book actually requires that they have the ability to provide splits. They'll even have split requests on hand! So I will do the 100 evil in the 200 evil. This will probably be much less amusing than watching me swim a 200 evil. When I did a couple in practice yesterday, even though I was cruising, my heart rate was up from the UWs.

4 x 100 @ 2:00
-- 25 shooter + 25 back kick + 25 shooter + 25 back kick
-- A noodler asked if I was on some experimental blood treatment that hyper oxygenated my blood and allowed me to stay underwater. I wasn't sure if he was serious or not ...
100 EZ

Total: 3100

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Just a recovery swim today. I was predictably sore after yesterday's chute-ing. Should have foam rolled last night! Thanks to Frank (fdotten), I bought some small agility paddles. Previously, I had only found the medium size ones. The smaller size will make my shoulders happier and hopefully I can use them with the evilstroke.

Worked on short bursty bits and the chute today. It doesn't seem like much, but I'm quite bushed. The chute is very fatiguing! I will definitely be doing a recovery workout tomorrow.

I need to sign up for the Albatross meet soon. Jeff is going to strictly enforce a swimmer limit, and this is a popular meet. I always use it as a pre-nationals quasi-taper meet to get some fast SCM times. As usual, I'm not sure what to swim. I just know I want to lead off with the 50 back. I'd like to do the 100 IM and 50 fly, but they're too close. I'd like to do the 100 fly, but not before the 50 back. https://www.clubassistant.com/club/meet_information.cfm?c=1409&smid=4470.

The girls were off school today, so I didn't have time for a recovery swim.

In case I feel motivated this weekend, I signed up for the Tropical Splash meet this Sunday. :O I haven't swum at this meet in years. It has an early start and the pool is not great. But I'm going to cruise in late and swim mostly in the second half of the meet. 50 fly/50 evil//200 evil. No touchpads = no backstroke for me. At least one split request of course. Not going to rest at all.

Took Saturday off as usual. I was pretty booked anyway as Lil Fort had a soccer game and Teen Fort had finals of HS district champs. She swam well in her evil events and advanced to regionals next weekend. The state cut for 100 evil here is a 1:07, seems really fast to me. I've seen D1 breaststrokers swimming that time in dual meets.

Did I add that up correctly? I was in the pool for a long time, but 4700 is still rather a lot of yardage for me. All the shooters -- 40 total -- meant the workout had an aerobic component. And doing those shooters on :30 was a bear after the hard efforts.

No time for core work or a recovery swim bc I had to race off to ART.
Egads! We got a slightly dusting of snow and, in a panic, school was closed early and the prelims of HS district champs were cancelled. Truly ridiculous, though I'm not unhappy that we just have timed finals tomorrow night. Teen Fort is swimming the medley relay and 100 fly and 100 evil.

mini LP set:
6 x 50 BA kick w/fins @ 2:00
-- meant to do them all double shooters, but I felt a tiny bit light headed after 3 of them so did the last 3 back kick with no SDK
1-3 = 21-22
4-6 = 26-27
200 EZ

5 x 50 back w/agility paddles @ 1:00
50 EZ

6 x 25 breast pull w/parachute
100 EZ

Total: 3400

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That mini LP BA set was brutal. Quads were burning. I'm headed out to the gym now with Lil Fort so she can run on the treadmill. This is good for me. It will force me to do my RC ex and stretch some. Laziness avoidance. :-)

20 min RC/scapular ex + 20-25 min stretching

I rescheduled/delayed my PRP appt until Feb. 7 so that I could get the new-fangled treatment. That means no Richmond/Nova meet for me.

I skipped the last 75 @ 200 pace on breast bc I was kicked out by the high school team. The dual meet season is now over and District Champs are this weekend. Teen Fort has been a real couch potato this week, learning from my taper example. :-)

I feel terrible that Jimby has been de-AA'd. It's especially brutal to have a time taken away from you AFTER a lengthy vetting process when it had been declared "official." Sigh. See his screed, which is not very screed-ish: http://byjimthornton.com/2013/01/22/...-all-american/

I deliberately went to the pool during the Inauguration speech. That was a good plan because as soon as it was over people started flooding in. I planned on getting in a solid speed workout today despite the meet yesterday. And I did, though my body wasn't excited about AFAP 50s without more rest. My dodgey left shoulder has been feeling a bit dodgey lately. Not sure if I slacked off on the RC exercises too much with a week+ away from the gym or if I've been doing too much free with my beloved agility paddles. I fear it is the latter. So I focused more on kicking today and may for awhile. I'm due for another PRP session on the elbow soon, so that will necessitate kicking as well.

Popped in for 1500 with lots of bursts. Had a major calf cramp, and had some earlier in the week. Been foam rolling and stretching.

Saturday:

1 hour of RC/scapular exercises and stretching

Sunday, MD Series Meet in Annapolis:

100 free, Abort

Had a major calf cramp on the start. Opted to do 10 SDKs as dolphin kicking is easier than flutter kicking for me with a cramp. I was out pretty fast, but the calf seized up on the second turn. My right leg was basically useless, so I stopped at about 65 yards. I was in lane 8, so didn't disrupt anyone else. I was a tiny bit disappointed because this was going to be my 100 free in yards for the year.

Glad I experimented with more SDks on the start as that may be faster for me. I was a good 1/3 body length ahead of a boy next to me who went 55. One of my HIT swimmers, Melinda, said I had a great start and was out in 26 high. Hmm ... that's pretty fast for me; I was thinking 27, but maybe the start helped.

I wasn't sure what to do after this episode ... Typically, when my calf cramps this bad, I have to call it a day. I rubbed, stretched and put the whirlpool jets on it. I decided not to swim the 100 fly as I was feeling somewhat head case-ish. :-) And I didn't want to be forced to abort another 100.

50 breast, 33.1

Decided to try this event to see how things went since I had spent an hour driving to the meet. I hopped into heat 1 where there was an empty lane for an unofficial swim. Had a little cramp on the start, but was able to swim through it. Good thing my left leg does most of the pushing. I had a major glide at the end; should have taken another stroke. But this is a very fast time for me untapered. Though I just told the timer to get me on his stopwatch, so it was manual timing.

50 free, 25.1

No cramp in this race, whew. I was quick off the blocks but shallower on the start than I wanted to be, so only took 7-8 SDKs. I had wanted to try 10. Had a sub-par turn (a bit too far from the bulkhead) and the legs felt sloggy. So I was exceedingly happy with the time, swum at 7:00 pm. It's a tad bit faster than I went last year with similar rest.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Overall, I'm glad I went to the meet despite early problems. It gave me a chance to work on some free SDK skills. The pool was decent. They didn't have pads in though, so I was glad I hadn't signed up for any backstroke events. And the blocks were teeny. I felt sorry for the taller people; even I felt slightly precarious on them.

I didn't feel super great in the water today. I think maybe I had to take too much time off from the eye infection and perhaps did too many bursts the few days before the meet. But who really knows. Back to the grindstone!

My eyes feel much better today. Just did an easy speed workout. I am certainly now feeling recovered from my first month of hard training after some involuntary time out of the water and easy workouts.

I really like my "flip mimic drill." I may inflict this one on my HIT followers. Today, I did 15 fast kicks. Starting on my back, rotating to the side and then onto the belly -- just like a free flip turn. Side SDKs may be a new project for me.

The meet is now up to 148 swimmers. Seems like a lot for a MD series meet. Only a couple PV swimmers though. Not too much time between 100 fly and 50 free ...

Eyes are still sore. I guess I should feel "lucky" I had an eye infection during a recovery week. I hope they're completely better by Sunday for the meet. Right now, there are 125 swimmers signed up and 100 free is the most popular event.

The pool is still relatively crowded even when I try to hit it at 1:30. Go away resolutionists!

A large resolutionist got into my lane at that point, so I decided to call it quits.

Total: 2650

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My eyes were still sore, but I have only been in the water once since last Wed. So I tightened the goggles and decided to give it a try. Not sure it was one of my betters ideas ... I felt a bit sludgy from pool absence + the deep tissue.

Ran across this on FB: http://www.swimbrief.net/2013/01/how...ial-missy.html. I agree with Chris deSantis on this. Very odd that people are complaining. In Teen Fort's school district we have a girl that will likely be the #1 or 2 college recruit next year (Janet Hu), and no one would dream of suggesting she shouldn't do HS swim. Though I suppose there are just more elite swimmers in the DC area that could skew our views.

I've been out of the water the last two days. Eye problem, either allergy or an infection of some sort. Hopefully, I'll at least be able to kick with a board tomorrow. I did get a massage yesterday and that was nice.

I entered the Md Series Jan. 20 meet in Annapolis this weekend. I didn't love the order of events, but decided to work on my belly SDKs/free SDKs and do 100 free/100 fly/50 free. I don't think I've swum 100 free in SCY since 2009. But sometimes it's nice to swim off events, especially at an in season meet. I was leery of swimming backstroke since I'm not sure if there will be electronic timing. And we were limited to 3 events.

Had a senior moment. Drove to the pool and found that I had forgotten to pack my suit. I did make successfully it to ART for a shoulder tune up. Went to a HS meet later. The next meet is senior night for Teen Fort. Four years of HS swimming almost over. Will be sad.

Note to self: don't bother with rec centers on weekends until after 4:00 until the summer. The life guard classes take virtually all the lanes. I am surprisingly somewhat tired after that workout. Recovery next week!

Took it kind of easy today -- mostly core work and skipped the plyos. I found my ankle weights the other day, so need to start using those on my flutter kicks on the bosu. And, for the first time ever, I saw someone else at the gym doing an extreme angle iso squat. It was a trainer who says he does it for explosive strength. :-) I haven't done them for a bit, so it will take my shins awhile to get used to them again.

There are some good musing about training and practices by Paul Yetter on this blog: http://createperformance.blogspot.com/. Some of his sets I thought Patrick might like. I saw one I might adapt for the HIT forum.

It appears that no amount of protein/sleep/foam rolling will replace the need for a recovery week. I'm still dragging so didn't do too much today. I think perhaps it was inadvisable to do drylands and a bungee cordz workout in the same day. I'll hit the gym tomorrow and then may be just resting until the meet. I may take the whole weekend off.

QBrain made my day today. I am heading to Barbados for spring break and had been worried that I'd be out of the pool the entire time -- not ideal with nationals a month away. He sent me a link with a lovely pool that even Patrick would be jealous of that is not far from our resort: http://users.sunbeach.net/bfit/comp2004.htm. I can't find any info on whether and when it's open to the public yet. I did send an email.

And my split request that had seemed to go missing has been found! So my official 50 back time this year will be .3 faster.

Booked my spring vacation today. Rats, our first choice was booked. I need to be better at planning my vacations as far in advance as my swim meets! I will be limited to a resort pool and body surfing swimming wise. I also booked a hotel room for Indy today too. Teen Fort made some noise about wanting to go, but not sure if it fits into her schedule yet.

Worked on some technical stuff today -- as every sprinter should! Consistent with my new year's resolution, I have decided to change my backstroke start to avoid the flat back starts I've been prone to lately. You can see from my avatar that I have been doing an arms to the side start for many years. Long ago, Ahelee told me to try the arms straight back over the head start. But this caused me to go to deep and get bogged down in the water. Fast forward another chunk of years and I am much better at the SDK. So yesterday and today, I tried out this start. I definitely get into the water more cleanly using this style. I also go much deeper. However, this seems to be fine and my kick count to the 15 m mark is actually the same. My timed 25s were a good half second faster than using the previous style start. So deeper/cleaner must be faster. The only caveat is that I have to really pay attention to the kick count because I spend much more time gradually angling up to the surface than I used to. Before, it felt like a relatively straight shot. Even old dogs can learn new tricks!

On another note, my upper body is pretty sore from yesterday's drylands/bungee cordz workouts. I can tell I did virtually no upper body work last year (and barely touched paddles). Recovery swim tomorrow, I think.